Where to Find Land to Buy

There’s no magic spot to find the land of your dreams. Unfortunately like most homesteading and/or off-grid dreams, there is a lot of work involved. If you’re like us it could take you a year to find your slice of heaven, and it could take even longer. But trust me, you want to do your due diligence and make sure you find the property that is right for you.

Make sure to check out this article that outlines all the different things you need to consider before buying a piece of land. In this article I’ve given tips on the questions you need to ask realtors, what you should be looking for in a property, and I discuss things like codes & zoning considerations. If you are wanting to live off grid or be a homesteader, you have to consider a lot of things that other land buyers don’t have to think about.

Unlike buying a home where you could have your pick of realtors to help you find the home of your dreams, buying land is a bit different. If you are like us and had a budget well under $100k for land, you won’t find many realtors to help you find a piece of land. Before we get mad at them for that, understand that finding land can take hours and the pay off for a piece of land that’s $50k is much smaller than a house for $450k. We found it easier to do all the looking ourselves and would call the sellers’ realtor for any questions. If you’ve got a realtor that will help you find a piece of land, you are a step ahead. If you don’t have that luxury, then below I’ve listed places where you can look for yourself.

Zillow- This is where we found our land. I spent many hours browsing this site. What I love about Zillow is that you can input a lot of different parameters. You can put in your price range, acreage size you are considering and many other options. My favorite feature is that you can draw a specific area on a map where you are interested in buying land. To my knowledge, this is an option no one else has. When we were looking for land, we weren’t looking for a specific town but we did know that we wanted to be within 2 hours of a majority city. So we could draw that out on a map and see all the property listed in that area.

The downside of Zillow is that the information is not always up to date. As mentioned in our last article about buying land- call the realtor. Ask questions! Don’t waste your time researching a property or an area without making sure the land is still available. Don’t learn the hard way like we did. You don’t want to drive several hours to a property only to find out that the 5 acres are all on a slope.

Facebook Marketplace - What can’t you buy on Marketplace these days? Not everyone lists their land with a realtor so Marketplace is a place to find land you would otherwise not find. Much like Zillow, just because it’s listed for sale, that doesn’t mean that it still is. Make sure to message or call to find out more information. If a property is listed on Marketplace, a lot of times there is an MLS number listed as well and you can find more information out that way.

Driving- If you have a specific area where you are interested in purchasing land, spend the day driving around the area. This will allow you to get familiar with the area while also looking for “for sale” signs. Don’t ever stop and look at a property without getting the owners or realtors permission.

LandAndFarm- Because this mostly a website just for land there are more specific parameters than Zillow. For example you select you are interested in land that is undeveloped, for hunting or farming, and/or lakefront. You can also look at specific regions of a state or a certain county or city. You can also select that you want to look at land that has owner financing as an option, but make sure to read this post as to why we think that might not be a great option.

LandWatch- This site is very similar to LandAndFarm. And for the most part a lot of the websites are going to have the same properties listed. However, some may have more information about a property than another. Also, it can come down to what platform you prefer. Most of the websites will email you updates with new properties that fit into your parameters.

Auction Sites - Every area has different auction companies, so you can look to see what is in your area. There is also a website called Auction dot com where you can browse properties in foreclosure and/or up for auction.

Word of Mouth- If you are interested in a specific area, put the word out that you are looking for land. Join local Facebook groups and ask those groups. It’s competitive out there, so doing anything to get an advantage can go a long way.

I strongly recommend that you keep notes about the properties that you are interested in. If you like a property enough to call a realtor and ask a question about it, write it down somewhere. I kept a spreadsheet so I could remember what land I had already called about. You might think you’ll remember if you’ve already inquired about a piece of land, but you’d be surprised how the properties will all run together.

Best wishes on your land search and I hope you find the property of your dreams!